It's Never Too Late
by misspatchesmom
Summary: Ziva completes an item on her bucket list with the help and encouragement of her family. Part of the "You Complete Me" universe.


It's Never Too Late

 _Ziva takes college classes and completes a degree_

 _**Flashback to January 2022**_

"It is done." Ziva looked at Tony as she clicked on the 'Pay Now' icon on the screen. "I have registered for my first semester of college classes!"

"You can do this, Zi. You are one of the most intelligent and determined people I know." Tony kissed Ziva's forehead. "I'm proud of you!"

"We shall see, Tony. I am still not sure I can have enough time for classes with a second grader, a preschooler, two toddlers and a baby in the house. Even with Anthony going to preschool each day, the twins and LJ take a lot of my time."

"I believe you can do it, Zi. I KNOW you can! And you know I will do whatever I can to help out."

"Toda, Tony."

** _Present day, December 2025_ **

Ziva was so ready for her last final exam to be over. Her applied statistics and quantitative methods for business applications class had been a challenge, but certainly not the toughest one she had completed in her Bachelors' degree program. Many of her classes had been online classes, which made completing the degree a whole lot easier than having to go to campus to take class. She had taken two PE classes on campus, and also her two science classes with labs. She had taken a general biology class and an astronomy class for her science requirements. In less than one week, she would graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Project Management.

Completing classes with three children at home for the first year had been a challenge. The twins had turned two years old during her first semester, and LJ was just shy of three months old when her first classes started. Tali had been in second grade and Anthony in a VPK4 full day program. Now, Rivka and Beth were in kindergarten, Anthony was in third grade, and Tali was in sixth grade. LJ went to three mornings of preschool each week.

While the school did not have a formal graduation ceremony at the end of the fall term, she would have her degree in hand by the end of January. She could choose to walk at graduation in May, but she probably wouldn't. Tony had been her cheerleader for the entire time. He had encouraged her to apply and start classes when she first considered earning a degree. When she needed to go to campus for classes or exams, he had rearranged his work schedule to be with the kids at home.

Her extended family had stepped up to help as well. Tim had offered to tutor her in math if she needed; Jimmy had offered to help with the biology class; Delilah and Tim had helped with the computer and information systems classes, and Gibbs and Abby had watched the kids or picked up kids from various activities multiple times.

The instructor walked into the room and handed each of the ten students a copy of the final exam. Ziva looked over the questions and got to work, her scratch paper and TI-84 Plus calculator at the ready. The test seemed rather easy and she felt good about her answers.

After about seventy five minutes, Ziva had finished the exam. She double checked her work and answers and was satisfied. She had done her best. She was the first student to finish and when she handed in the exam papers, the instructor had asked if she was sure she was ready to hand them in. "Yes. I have completed all of the questions and I have done my best." Ziva wasn't about to let him psych her out or second guess her work. She knew that changing answers unless she was certain she was wrong the first time would most likely result in a lower overall score.

She went out to the parking lot and sent a text to Tony, who was at home with the kids, ' _It is done_.'

' _So proud of you, Zi!'_ Tony sent a reply and then followed with another message, ' _The kids are all cheering…_ J '

' _Will be home in about 30 minutes._ ' Ziva started the engine and headed out towards home.

' _Let's go out to dinner to celebrate._ ' Ziva smiled at Tony's response.

' _Ok. Where?_ '

A reply came a few minutes later. ' _Kids want pizza, but I told them you get to pick the place._ '

Ziva smiled again; all five were certainly Tony's kids when it came to pizza. ' _Pizza is fine. See you soon._ '

** _Flashback to end of April 2024_ **

Ziva was beyond frustrated. Her Business and Law class was the most difficult class she had taken so far. A lot of it was memorization, but once the concepts and laws were memorized, the tests involved scenarios to which specific laws applied. The students had to specify which laws, and then justify the application of each law. No matter how she tried to answer the question, the instructor seemed to pick apart her response each time. Her highest test grade so far had been a low B.

She had met with the professor and he had told her she was a good student, but he believed only an exceptional student should earn an A. He had also called her writing stilted, and when she explained that English was not her first language, he had laughed. It stirred an anger inside her that she had not felt in a long time. She was determined to show him that she was an exceptional student.

Her last test was in three days, and she had practiced all of the test review questions multiple times and had asked Tim for suggestions for writing better responses. Each time he made a suggestion, she had reworked her response and sent it back to Tim. She was ready to show her very best (exceptional) work on the last test.

On the day of the on campus test, Ziva worried that she would not do well. Tony gave her a pep talk before she left for campus and reminded her that she was ready to take the test. She was determined to show her professor that she could do exceptional work. She opened her test booklet and read each of the five questions. She started working on her responses.

Two hours later, she was finished. She looked around the classroom; she was the last one to finish. She turned in her test packet to the instructor and turned to leave. She was stopped in her tracks by a comment from the professor.

"I know this will be the best work you have submitted all term, Ms. DiNozzo."

She turned back to look at him with a raised eyebrow, "Oh?"

"Sometimes you need to put a spark of anger to get someone's best work." He smiled at her. "I look forward to reading your test paper."

Ten days later, when final grades had been posted, Ziva was surprised to see a grade of A for the Business and Law class. She checked her school email and found a message from the course professor. ' _That was an exceptional paper from an exceptional student._ ' Ziva grinned.

** _End of flashback_ **

Ziva arrived home to the kids waiting inside the front door. Each one hugged her and congratulated her. Tony was grinning at her and held his arms open to her. She finished hugging each child and then melted into Tony's arms.

"Congratulations, sweet cheeks," Tony whispered in her ear as he drew her into a bear hug. "You did it!"

Ziva kissed Tony's cheek, "Thank you for believing in me and encouraging me." Tony released his hug enough for her to kiss him on the lips. "I love you for being my number one supporter."

Anthony tugged at his Ima's sleeve, "Ima, you can kiss Abba later. I'm hungry."

Tony and Ziva laughed; Anthony was definitely his father's son, always ready to eat. "Get your coats on everybody and let's go celebrate Ima's graduation," Tony herded them all in the direction of the coat rack by the door. He grabbed his keys, wallet, and phone, "Last one to the van has to pay for the meal!" The kids took off out the front door, followed by Ziva. Tony locked the house and got to the van last.

"Abba, you have to pay!" LJ grinned at his Abba from the back seat where he was between Rivka and Beth. "That means I am going to eat a whole pizza."

Tony grinned back at his youngest, "I guess I'll be paying for a LOT of pizza tonight!" He took Ziva's hand and interlaced their fingers as he drove to the pizza restaurant. She squeezed his hand lightly, and he raised their joined hands to kiss the back of her hand. "Mazal tov! Ani ohev otach, Zi."

"Toda, Tony. Ani ohevet otcha."


End file.
